


Christmas at 221B

by Firefly5151



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, December Ficlet Challenge, Friendship, Gen, Johnlock with Goggles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 07:26:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12979047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firefly5151/pseuds/Firefly5151
Summary: Collection of ficlets and drabbles for the Sherlock December Ficlet challenge.





	1. Mint

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1 Prompt: Mint (changed from Peppermint)

As Sherlock and John exited the elevator and stepped down the few steps in the entryway towards the front door of the building, Sherlock detoured to the wooden mailbox cubbies situated in the space under the stairs. Not knowing what could be so important, John continued on to the door and exited the building. 

In the time they were interviewing their latest client in one of the fourth floor flats, it had dropped drastically in temperature, the sun had hidden behind ominous clouds and the wind had picked up. Deciding it would be better to wait in the relative warmth of the building, John turned around to go back inside but the automatic locking door slammed shut.

Knowing Sherlock like he did, John didn’t bother knocking on the door to be let in. It would be a waste of energy. Instead, he shoved his hands deep into his pockets and hoped Sherlock wouldn’t take long. As a chill ran through him, he decided a warm drink was in order before they made the trek to wherever Sherlock deemed necessary to go to next.

After waiting for a delivery truck to pass, John stepped off the sidewalk into the alley of a street. He looked to his right but just saw what looked like the backside of buildings turning out of sight. Looking left, he saw signs for a pub, a Pret and a Costa. He smiled just as the door to the building opened and Sherlock stepped out.

“Did you find the mailbox cubbies interesting?” John stepped back on the sidewalk and began walking in the direction of the coffee house.

Sherlock followed. “You’d be amazed at what you can learn from a person’s mail, or lack thereof. For example, there were actually two flats in that building that were vacation rentals.” As they got to the small intersection, John continued straight instead of turning left. “John, where are you going? We have to go up this street if we want to get a taxi.”

John stopped and turned toward Sherlock. “I don’t know where you have in mind to go next, but our first stop is definitely going to get something warm to drink.”

“I don’t want anything to drink,” Sherlock replied.

“But I do. Come on.” John turned back around and picked up his pace to the Costa. “And we’re staying there to drink it too.”

Sherlock gave a huff. “Fine. I just don’t want you telling me we have to stop the investigation later because you’re hungry.”

John sighed in relief as the warmth from the shop enveloped him. “Go get us a seat. I’ll place the order.” He walked behind the last person in the queue hoping Sherlock would listen and not leave. Five minutes later he had the order and happily found Sherlock at one of the few tables by the front windows.

“What is that?” Sherlock asked as John placed the circular tray holding two large mugs topped with whipped cream and sparkly crumbs, two spoons, and a slice of loaf cake onto the table.

“Mint hot chocolates and a slice of their holiday clementine drizzle loaf cake.” He began taking the items off the tray when he spotted Sherlock’s raised eyebrows. “What? You told me not to bother you about being hungry later.”

Sherlock looked to the hot chocolates with hope. “That doesn’t explain the two hot chocolates. You can’t be that thirsty?”

“No, you idiot,” John laughed. “One is for you.” He finished emptying the tray and realized he forgot napkins and a fork for himself. After returning to the table with the items, he went to dig into his loaf cake but paused as he looked at it. “Sherlock, where did my frosting go?”

Instead of answering, Sherlock picked up his mug of hot chocolate. 

It was then that John noticed that Sherlock’s mug was half empty as well. “Like mint hot chocolate as well as frosting do you?” he asked amused.

Sherlock took a large gulp of his hot chocolate, resulting in giving himself a whipped cream mustache. “Well, you’re always on about me not eating, aren’t you?”

John passed a napkin over to Sherlock. “You’ve got a mustache.” He took a sip of his own hot chocolate. “God this is good. Now I can see why you’ve almost finished yours already.” He wiped his own mouth with a napkin and dug into the cake. “Not bad either.” He pushed the plate between him and Sherlock. “Since you’ve eaten the best part already, you can have some of the cake if you’d like.” Surprising John, Sherlock took John’s fork and took a bite of the cake.

A few minutes after finishing their hot chocolate and the slice of cake, Sherlock declared the detour done and led them back to Baker Street so he could do some research. While Sherlock was on his laptop, John made a mental note about Sherlock’s surprising reaction to the hot chocolate and the loaf cake. It would definitely come in handy for future days this time of year when he needed to get Sherlock to eat or drink.


	2. Wish List

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 2 Prompt: Wish List

Sherlock bounded up the steps of 221B in excitement. Molly had actually given him a perfect liver to experiment on and he didn’t have to sweet-talk her for it. He definitely wasn’t going to question why. He swept into the flat and put the container in one of the crispers in the refrigerator. Taking off his coat and scarf, he went back to the living room to hang the items on the back of the door.  
“What are you doing?” Sherlock asked as he spotted John sitting at the table bent over a piece of paper and chewing on the end of a pen.

“Thinking,” John responded distractedly.

Sherlock walked to the table and peered over John’s shoulder. He stood back up with a smirk and took a seat opposite John. “A Christmas wish list? Really John? I never took you for writing to Santa. Aren’t you a little old for that?” Sherlock took out his mobile and opened the web browser.

John pulled the pen out of his mouth. “It’s not for Santa, you idiot. It’s for work. We’re doing a secret Santa.”

“What is a secret Santa?”

“Seriously?”

Sherlock glanced from his phone to John. “Am I the type of person to ask questions when I know the answer?” He actually did know what a secret Santa was, but sometimes just liked John explaining things to him.

“The things you don’t know.” John shook his head in amusement. “You pick someone’s name at random, buy them a Christmas gift of a certain cost, and you don’t say who you’ve picked. It’s a secret.” John jotted something down on the paper in front of him and put the pen back in his mouth.

“And is a list required for this secret Santa?” Sherlock pocketed his phone and grabbed John’s laptop which was sitting under a stack of papers next to him.

“Not usually. There were complaints about the gifts that were given over the last couple of years so a majority of the staff decided on adding wish lists this year.”

Sherlock typed something into Google and waited for the page to load. “If I was doing a secret Santa, I wouldn’t need to buy an item from a wish list. I would already know what the person would want.”

John put the pen down and folder the paper into thirds. “I’d love to see your wish list.” A moment later, John’s smile disappeared and he looked at Sherlock horrified. “No. I take that back. I wouldn’t want to see it. Your list would probably give me nightmares.”

Sherlock looked up at John clearly offended. He quietly closed the laptop, and without a word, retreated to the kitchen to begin his experiment. His happy mood from earlier was now gone. “Stupid wish lists,” he muttered as he pulled the liver out of the refrigerator. He hoped to lose himself in his experiment fairly quickly so he didn’t have to think on why John’s comment actually hurt. Not that he would ever have the urge to do so, and knowing that it wouldn’t hold anything odd anyway; he made a mental note to never make a Christmas wish list.


	3. Fruitcake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 3 Prompt: Fruitcake

After hitting the post button for his latest reply on John’s blog, Sherlock eyed the foil wrapped package, complete with red bow, sitting on the coffee table. With his eyes never leaving the package, he set the laptop on floor and sunk more into his chair with his elbows on the arms of the chair and his fingers steepled in front of his mouth.

It only took a few seconds for Sherlock to observe that whatever was wrapped in the foil had at one time been warm but had cooled after it was wrapped. The shape suggested it was a loaf of some type. Bread maybe. He needed to find out for sure.

Springing out of his chair, Sherlock quickly made his way to the sofa and sat down in front of the package. He picked it up and gave it a sniff. It smelled slightly sweet. Not bread then. Or at least not a normal white loaf of bread. He found one of the edges and peeled back a bit of the foil. Sherlock was met with the sight of a golden brown crust, dots of red which could be cherries, and dots of pale cream which looked denser than the red. More than likely they were nuts.

Intrigued, Sherlock unwrapped more of the foil. It definitely was some sort of loaf cake. He had an idea of what it was, but of course needed confirmation. He hopped up and retrieved a knife and napkin from the kitchen. Sitting back on the sofa, he completely unwrapped the loaf, cut a small slice from the middle, and placed it on the napkin. He popped a small bite into his mouth and sat back against the sofa as the flavors flooded his taste buds. The loaf was exactly what he thought.

Smiling in satisfaction, Sherlock finished up the slice he had started and sliced another piece. The two slices were devoured in less than five minutes. Needing some tea to finish it off, he set the water to boil then went back to the coffee table. He pushed the two halves of the loaf together and wrapped it back up neatly in the foil and replaced the bow.

Sherlock was seated in his chair five minutes later drinking his tea when John walked into the flat arms laden with shopping bags. “Finished your Christmas shopping, John?”

“Almost. Get me a cup of tea while I drop these in my room.” He held out his arms full of bags and then gave a shiver. “It’s gotten cold out there. I need to warm up.”

Without replying, Sherlock made John a cuppa, set it on the table next to his chair, and topped off his own cup of tea. He just sat back down when John re-entered the living room.

“Thanks for the tea,” John said as he picked up the warm cup and sat down heavily into his chair. “When I’m done, I need to walk that,” he pointed with his head to the foil package on the coffee table, “down to Mrs. Hudson. One of the doctors at the surgery passed them around. I’m not a fan of the stuff so I thought I’d give it to Mrs. Hudson.”

“Leave it here,” Sherlock said as he picked up his laptop from the floor. 

“I’m not going to let you experiment on it.” John took a large gulp of tea and set the cup back on the table.

“I’m not going to experiment on it. I’m going to eat it.”

John wasn’t convinced. “Really. You’re going to eat it? I can barely get you to ingest anything other than tea and coffee most of the time.”

Sherlock raised his eyes from the laptop and met John’s. “I eat.”

“When was the last time you ate?” John asked.

Sherlock remained quiet.

Nodding in satisfaction, John got up to retrieve the foil package. “I better get this out of here now.” When he picked it up, one side fell slightly. “What the…” John said as he set it back down on the table and stared at it. “It’s definitely shorter than it was when I placed it here earlier.” After opening the foil he saw the loaf had been cut and a bit was missing from the middle. John raised his eyes to Sherlock.

Sherlock, who had been watching John closely since the moment he got up, smiled shyly. “See.”

John laughed heartily as he re-wrapped it. “Figures. The man who barely eats anything actually loves fruitcake.”


End file.
